A StarNewsOnline Blog

All things high school sports from Southeastern North Carolina

Here are this week’s nominees for Player of the Week. All four are deserving candidates. Vote for who should win online at starnewsvarsity.com. Crystal Harrell, Sr., Ashley girls basketball: Harrell set a new program record during Ashleys 21-point win at Rose on Friday with 30 points. Harrell dropped in four three-pointers and hauled in 11 rebounds as well. A senior leader for the Screaming Eagles, Harrell is a big part of why Ashley is 11-3 right now and winners of… Read More »

What better way to open up 2012 than with another Elite Eight Power Poll? Here’s this week’s rankings: Boys 1) New Hanover (Last Week: 1) … New Hanover coach Kirk Angel says he doesn’t pay attention to rankings, but debuting as No. 2 in the … 4A poll can only be a good thing, and is indicative of just how good the Wildcats have been so far this season. It’s a wide gap between them and the rest of the… Read More »

Here are the player of the week nominees for Dec. 19-25, after the first round of holiday tournament action: Amber Doniere, Jr., Laney girls basketball: Doniere was a force in the post for Laney and really came into her own during the Holiday Classic last week. She scored 27 points in the first two games of the tournament and led Laney past its first big test of the year, scoring 13 points as the Bucs beat Cherokee. Felcity Havens, So.,… Read More »

Tuesday was a big day for area sports. Not only did Hoggard sweep the Mideastern Conference swim meet, but the Vikings also swept girls and boys basketball games vs. New Hanover. That threw the conference race back up into the air and emphasized yet again just how even all the Mideastern Conference teams are. As you can see on the SNV standings and in today’s story, everyone in the boys race has now taken at least one lump, and in… Read More »

About This Blog

Hey there, I’m Alex Rileyand I’m the high school sports writer for the StarNews in Wilmington.

Before coming to North Carolina, I was covering sports for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne for two-plus years. Before that, I was in Ellis County, Texas covering sports for Waxahachie Newspapers Inc. Originally I’m from Blythewood, SC and I’m a 2008 grad of the University of South Carolina.

Follow me on Twitter at @StarNewsVarsity or email me at alex.riley@starnewsonline.com.